Casino bouncer loses appeal bid over ‘private corridor’ beating

A Territory casino security guard who beat up an unruly patron after leading him away from the prying eyes of CCTV cameras has lost a bid to overturn his conviction.

A TERRITORY casino security guard who beat up an unruly patron after leading him away from the prying eyes of CCTV cameras has lost a bid to overturn his conviction.

The Supreme Court heard Rimoni Motuga and his co-accused, Gasolo Gasolo, were working as senior security managers at Lasseters in Alice Springs when they asked “intoxicated” punter, Raymond Coull, to leave the casino in March 2021.

As he was being escorted from the building, Mr Coull “resisted and kicked out” at Motuga, who then “took him to the ground where he landed on his stomach and face”.

Mr Coull then picked up a beer bottle and threw it at Motuga, striking him on the head and he radioed for backup before being joined by another security guard.

They lifted Mr Coull off the floor and as they carried him towards the exit, he thrust his head backwards, connecting with Motuga’s face and was again “taken to the ground”.

Gasolo and a fourth bouncer arrived and helped carry Mr Coull to the exit but he was instead taken into a “private corridor” with no CCTV coverage and the door was locked with Mr Coull, Motuga and Gasolo inside.

According to the agreed facts in the case, Mr Coull suffered two broken ribs with “blood and air in his chest cavity”, a black eye, abrasions and soft tissue swelling to the right elbow.

Motuga and Gasolo were later charged with assault, and both men were found guilty following a hearing in the Alice Springs Local Court.

Motuga appealed his verdict to the Supreme Court and in his ruling, appeal judge Trevor Riley said Mr Coull had told the court he was “kicked multiple times to the ribs” and “kicked or punched to the face” while in the corridor.

“The account of (Motuga) was that when they entered the corridor, Mr Coull went facedown and started banging his head on the ground and ‘punching his head on the concrete’ which he corrected to say ‘carpet’,” he said.

“When they released him he started kicking again and punching them and three or four times he got to his feet and they had to put him down.

“Gasolo gave evidence that when they went through the door, Mr Coull fell to the floor and started hitting his head.

“He was kicking at them. They just picked him up and then he would drop and he did that on a number of occasions.”

Motuga’s lawyers argued his conviction was “unsafe and unsatisfactory” on the grounds that the trial judge erred in rejecting the possibility that Mr Coull’s injuries were suffered through falling to the floor and “self-harming”.

But in rejecting the appeal, Justice Riley said the two security guards’ version of events did not explain his injuries.

“Those versions which, inferentially, were not accepted by his honour in any event, do not include anything which would cause injury to the ribs but, rather, refer to Mr Coull falling and banging his head against the floor in an effort to self-harm,” he said.

“Further, the CCTV footage referred to by the learned judge strongly supports the conclusion that the injuries occurred in the corridor.”

Originally published as Casino bouncer loses appeal bid over ‘private corridor’ beating